by Allan Joyal
“Something scared our friend,” I started needlessly. “And across the river, the road is heavily damaged. Something is out there, and we really don’t want to meet it. We’ll need to cross fast and then move quickly. The route will be to cross the bridge and then turn to the south and follow the new road. The herds move first and then the carts. Anyone with a weapon should have it out. I’ll stay at the crossing with Krysbain and probably Hencktor while we cross. Move quickly. Something feels wrong.”
“I’ll run the moving of the carts,” Gerit said.
Gertrilla just turned and held up her staff. She swung it down until it almost touched the bridge. The herd started in motion towards us.
I put an approving hand on Gertrilla’s head. “Good job. Let’s move people. It’s getting into late afternoon, and I have no idea what’s waiting for us.”
I turned and jogged across the bridge. Corwar and Heather accompanied me as I crossed over and approached Krysbain. To my surprise he held his hand out in a gesture that made it clear we were to stop.
The man turned his head to listen to the forest and then crept back toward us. “I see something, but I’m not sure what it is,” he said quietly.
“Show me,” I said quietly. We moved forward a bit as the herd started streaming over the bridge. I noticed that the cattle lowed quietly. There was now a hint of fear in their actions as they turned and headed south. The rest of the herd closed up tighter and sped up as they began to walk down the south road.
Krysbain walked me over to the crater. I thought he was leading me to look at the crater, but he moved past it and pointed to a spot just off the road. The ground there showed signs of having been rained on recently and there was a clear hoof print in the mud.
“I can only find this kind of print,” Krysbain said. “And it doesn’t fit. They are spaced out oddly.”
“Define oddly,” I whispered back as I looked at the hoof print. It looked a bit like a cow’s print, but seemed oddly deeper and more defined.
“The spacing of the prints is wrong,” Krysbain said pointing at several faint prints marching back into the forest. “They don’t make sense for a four legged creature. They only make sense.”
“If this creature walked on two legs,” Heather finished for him. “Minotaurs? Ron did we run into Minotaurs.”
“I sure as hell hope we didn’t,” I said. “Our legends make them out as unstoppable killing machines. In a forest like this, our slings and bows won’t help us much, and if it had a club to make that crater.”
“A what?” Krysbain asked.
“A creature that has the lower body and head of a bull and the torso of a very hairy man,” Heather said. “They are a myth where we come from.”
I turned back to check the progress of the caravan. The last of the herd was already turning and the first cart was on the bridge. I started to wave for them to speed up when a faint roar echoed out over the forest. It came from far to the east.
“And we’ve been detected,” I said. “Corwar, let Gertrilla know, we need to move fast.”
“It’s just a bull man you said,” Corwar said with a pout.
“That likes to eat meat, is a lot bigger than me, and probably made that crater over there with one hit of a hammer or club,” I pointed out. “If it…”
A second roar echoed out over the forest. This one was almost directly north of us and sounded like it was only a short distance away.
Krysbain jumped up in surprise. Heather gasped as I slowly stood. We could hear something crashing through the forest to the north of us. In the distance additional roars echoed out.
“And it’s more than one,” I said needlessly. I glanced over my shoulder to see that Amalya had the first cart turned and headed south. The last cart was still waiting to get on the bridge.
Heather snorted. “Ron, if the crashing is real…”
“It will arrive before we have gone far,” I said. “Where’s Corwar?”
Piemal ran up. “Corwar is with the cattle, they are about to panic, and Gertrilla needs him,” he told me. I noticed that Dafalia and Yveney were with him.
“You,” I said pointing at him. “Get over by the road to the south and get your slings ready. If I’m right… and I pray I’m not, a nasty monster will break through the trees in just a few minutes. As soon as you see it, attack and then retreat down the road. Heather, go with them.”
“But I can fight!” she protested.
“Not with a knife. If this thing is as tall as I expect, there’s no way you’d be able to get inside its reach. Stay back and protect the children,” I said.
I moved away from the trees. The crashing from the north was getting louder and closer at an alarming rate. I could hear the wagons clattering over the road as Gerit and Konstanzia pushed them to their limit. Verval rushed over holding one of the group’s axes.
“Do we fight?” he asked.
“Only if cornered,” I replied. “And what happened to our kobold. I lost track.”
“He’s running next to the first cart,” Verval said. “I get a feeling he thinks we’ll defeat whatever is coming.”
“I have the last cart across the bridge!” Mary shouted. “Can we run away now?”
“Go, go, go!” I said waving my left hand as I started backing away from the trees. Krysbain had moved to join me. Verval stood at my left as we backed away from the forest. I could now see something moving through the shadows cast by the trees. It smashed more than one tree out of the way as is approached the road.
Krysbain whistled. “It’s big,” he said. “And there are at least four others out there.”
“Close?” I asked.
“I think the nearest is a few miles away, but it’s moving quickly,” Krysbain said. “All were to the north of the road.”
“One thing to be thankful for,” I said just as the creature smashed its way past the last trees and stepped onto the road.
It was as Heather and I surmised a Minotaur, but it was nothing like the creature we expected. The lower legs looked like a bull’s, complete with a massive penis that hung between its muscled legs. The upper torso was hugely muscled with broad shoulders and visible ab muscles. The brown fur of the creature was thin there, allowing us to see the definition in the muscles.
The creature’s hands were misshapen claws, containing four fingers. These were set up as two pairs of claws that closed around a large wooden club that appeared to be a small tree that had been ripped out of the ground.
The head was even more monstrous. The creature had a bull’s nose and eyes, but the mouth was filled with teeth that looked like they belonged in a shark’s mouth. A froth of spit bubbled out of its mouth as it sniffed the air. The horns sprouting from the side of its head had sharp tips that pointed forward. As the monster sniffed, it lowered its head and brought its horns into position to charge us.
I heard a snap from my right. The monster bellowed in pain and stood back up. It took its right hand off of the club. The hand touched its left shoulder and the creature moved its head from side to side.
“What is slowing it down?” Krysbain asked.
“Piemal, you’d better be backing up,” I said carefully. “Verval, Krysbain, let’s start moving backward, slowly.”
There was a second snap from our right. This time the flung stone struck the Minotaur’s club, sending several small splinters toward the confused monster as the wood cracked. It roared in defiance and immediately charged us.
Verval and Krysbain both dove away, leaving me to face the creature’s charge. It was watching me carefully, and I could see it adjusting the position of its horns trying to ensure it caught me.
There was another snap from my right. I dropped to a knee and set my spear to receive the charge. My thought was to drop flat after striking the Minotaur with the spear. There was still a danger of being trampled, but it was the only idea I came up with. However, before the creature ran into my weapon it collapsed to the ground. A trickle of blood began to spread f
rom near its left eye.
“Got it!” Piemal shouted.
His cry of triumph was followed by a roar of anger from the northeast. I stood back up and started backpedaling as fast as I could. “No time to celebrate,” I said.
“But…” Piemal said as I caught up to him. The boy was looking at the body of the fallen Minotaur.
A new roar went up somewhere east of us. “Do you want to be here when one of those things gets here?” I asked. “Move!”
Piemal gasped and then turned to run. I looked back one last time and then turned so I could run as well. Krysbain caught up to me. “Sorry,” he gasped out.
“I shouldn’t have been there either,” I said. “We need to get the other spears made. Right now I have the only one, and that leaves us unable to stand and take a charge.”
We were moving at a swift pace as we headed down the road. I was trying to watch behind us to see if any of the other Minotaurs had caught up to us. I could now hear at least three charging through the forest as we continued to run away.
Soldrin dashed back to us. “Ron,” he said. “Jeff and Lenoir are in the lead. They say that the road is getting worse. We’ll have to slow down soon or the carts will be damaged.”
“Or worse, broken,” I muttered. “Tell them to look for someplace we can use as a fort,” I told Soldrin.
“The next one will catch up to us before the sun goes down,” Krysbain said.
“Not sure that matters,” I replied. “The last one appeared to work on scent more than sight. That has to be how the first one noticed us. The roar was from far to the east, so it had to have noticed something in the wind.”
“How could it not matter?” Krysbain asked.
“It’s not going to be looking for us exactly,” I pointed out. “If they hunt by smell, they’ll be able to track us. Water might work, but getting this caravan across a ford takes hours.”
Heather came running back to join us. “The herd is starting to tire,” she said.
“After a mile?” I asked. “We haven’t run that far.”
“A mile?” Heather gasped. “Ron, I think we’ve run three. Aren’t you paying attention?”
“To distance?” I gasped back. I would have said more, but a roar from the east got all of us to turn and look.
A massive Minotaur stood on top of a bluff just a few hundred feet from the road. I could hear cries of panic and terror from the others in the caravan as the creature brandished a tree trunk in the air.
The forest was thick between us and the Minotaur’s bluff. I could not see the base of the bluff to know if it was possible for the Minotaur to charge us. It stood there gazing at us as the carts and wagons continued their frenzied retreat down the road.
“If that thing jumps it can get here in seconds,” Krysbain said.
I nodded; this situation was growing increasingly dangerous. I pushed Heather to keep moving when a roar sounded from down the road. I looked back and could see that another Minotaur was chasing us.
“Ron!” Yveney said as she dashed over. “There’s some kind of temple ahead. The building looks like it’s made of stone, and Jeff thinks we can shelter inside.”
“Will we be able to leave?” Heather asked worriedly.
I looked back at the Minotaur chasing us. It was at least a half mile behind us, but was closing rapidly. “We don’t have time to ponder that question. It’s the uncertain safety of the stone temple or the guarantee that at least one Minotaur catches us. And we’re probably too tired to put up a good fight.”
“I’ll tell Jeff!” Yveney shouted. She dashed for the front of the caravan.
I looked over to my right and realized that we had caught up to some of the sheep. Haydee and two of the dogs were trying to encourage them to move faster, but it was clear that two of the smaller sheep had run out of energy.
“Heather, take the spear!” I shouted as I tossed it to her. I did not wait to see if she caught it, but dashed off the road to where the two sheep continued to stagger forward. I picked up a sheep under each arm and tried to stagger forward.
Krysbain appeared at my right elbow and put his arms around that sheep. “I’ve got this one,” he promised.
I released that one and then used both arms on the other ewe and started running. Haydee and the dogs kept pace as we tried to catch up with the caravan.
The caravan was turning to the right. I could see a small gap in the trees, but fatigue kept me from looking up. The roars from behind were growing louder with each step I took. My breath was burning as the ewe let out a frightened bleat and pissed all over my chest.
Krysbain put on a burst of speed and got in front of me. One of the dogs nipped at my heels. I was able to find a burst of my own and raced to the point where the caravan had turned. Ahead I could see only a tunnel of darkness. Voices from the darkness seemed to scream for me to go faster.
Haydee and the dogs rushed past me. I lunged for the darkness. Behind me, something disturbed the air as I flew the last few feet and entered the tunnel.
Chapter 27: Ancient Magics
There was a resounding crash just behind me. I released the sheep. It bleated loudly in the darkness. I just lay there trying to catch my breath. Animals shuffled around, making the stone clatter.
Finally a bright light illuminated the area. I tried to lift my body, but my tired muscles refused to support the effort. I rolled onto my side and looked towards the source of the light.
Shaylin was sitting up and leaning against some kind of stone bench. She used the back of the bench to support her right hand which was holding up the Everlight stone she had created. The light from the stone shone bright and clear.
The animals calmed down as the light continued to shine. I got my breath under control, but my arms and legs were shaking as I lay on the cold stone. “Anyone know where we are?” I gasped out.
“Ask me when the room stops spinning,” Lydia said. “Ron, Steve once told me he liked jogging in the morning. If I ever meet his spirit, remind me to find a way to whip him for saying that.”
I snorted. “It saved our lives today.”
“But for what?” Jeff asked. “Ron, this room might have been used as a church or temple, but why is it here. I saw no other buildings nearby.”
“Are there any markings on the walls or floor?” I asked. “I’d check, but I can’t move yet.”
“No one should be moving much,” Esme said. “We all need fluids and probably some food. We just ran for miles. And I’m willing to bet that we were running at a world record pace.”
“Not that anyone will be putting it into Guiness anytime soon,” I said. “Can anyone bring around the canteens?”
To my surprise it was the kobold that gathered up our canteens and went from person to person offering drinks. The strange creature demanded that each of us allow it to drink from the canteens and then moved back to the carts, cowering underneath one of the wagons.
The drink reinvigorated me enough that I was able to sit up and look around. We were in a large stone chamber. It was larger than any gothic cathedral I had ever been in. The animals gathered along one wall. Many were lying down. Even the standing ones hung their heads. I sighed.
“The animals need food and water,” I said. “Anyone know how to handle that?”
We started to look around the chamber. It looked like some kind of meeting room. Stone tables and benches lined the middle while there were several alcoves that were filled with moth eaten rags that might have once been pillows. We soon found two doorways, but choose to check the room we were in first. One of the doorways was wide enough to allow the wagons to be brought through.
“How did we get in?” Heather asked as we circled the walls of the room. “That doorway is wood, and the Minotaurs would have been able to bash it in.”
I was about to respond, when I noticed that one corner of the chamber had an elaborate stone sculpture standing in a basin. The sculpture looked like a lovely mermaid holding a pitcher. It looked lik
e a fountain that had run out of water.
“This would be useful if it had water,” I said sadly. “Whatever this place is, it’s been abandoned for a long time.
Heather put a hand on the basin. “It’s beautiful,” she said.
A bell rang loudly. A voice we could not understand proclaimed something, and the fountain began flowing.
Shaylin gasped. “This was a school!” she said. “It was a school at the time of the empire. But that voice said a student was in the common room? How did it know?”
Heather giggled. “I was a student,” she said. “Somehow, when I touched the basin, whatever magic keeps this place alive noticed I guess.”
Balls of light appeared over several of the stone tables. The formerly dark room was now lit almost as bright as day. I noticed that the alcoves were still shadowed. Heather nudged me to move away from the fountain. The sound of the water had been noticed by the herd animals, and several were staggering towards us.
“Gerit,” I said. “This is probably complete desecration of this fine place, but I think we might as well camp for the night. Let’s get the animals out of their harnesses. Kariy, no fire. I hope we still have some things we can eat.”
“We have some dried meat that I prepared about seven days ago,” Kariy said. “And some of the cheese has kept rather well. It’s not much, but I can feed everyone.”
“That works,” I said. My legs were starting to shake a little, so I walked over to one of the stone tables and sat down. The cold bench was uncomfortable, but my legs immediately started feeling better.
Heather came over to sit next to me. Within minutes, the table was surrounded as others joined us. When the first table became crowded the others claimed a second table across the center aisle that ran through the chamber.
“I haven’t heard anything trying to get in,” Lydia noted. “It’s like we are all alone here.”
“We might be,” I said. “But we still have to figure out how to leave.”